likes on forum are being spammed

I was going to reply to a topic which already existed on "Likes" however it is archived and I couldn't, but I could funnily enough go into those archived topics and still like the posts of everyone who didn't like likes...

In any case I would like to request, again, the removal of both the forum Likes and Points as they are easily exploited as shown here in my most recent article:

Gracias por su amabilidad!

 

Likes are harmless. It's not like you get anything from them.

 

Well technically... You get points from likes.

 

Imperfect systems are important. It's the potential for abuse that allows people to separate themselves, and the onus is on the governing bodies to react to this and reward and rebuke appropriately. This is Moderation. The SotA forums has a number of competent moderators whom should be just aware of these issues as you and others are. If the burden of moderating the like system outweighs it's uses, then yes perhaps it should be removed, but the day is young and a knee jerk reaction may not be the best long term approach, especially considering that systems such as likes are very temporal and improve greatly over time as communities grow in size and content.

I would hope, that as a mature community, we could avoid the old the school axiom of punishing the entire class to discipline a minority. And simply acknowledge that the like system isn't to be deemed an accurate measure, just a chance for community members to show support for each other.

 

InsaneMembrane: Thanks for bringing this to our attention--the moderators have been made aware and we're planning to talk to FireLotus and Lum about it.

knoxiTV: Those are some kind words--thank you. We will continue to try to assist where possible, and do appreciate people bringing issues like these to our attention. Hopefully, we'll have something soon.

 

I like the likes.

edit - So I clicked through and read your post (and all the others), and I see now why you suggest to have the likes removed. I'd rather just ignore any MGT with hundreds of likes. I want to be able to like what I like.

 

Thanks for reading through. I might puke in my own mouth a little bit when I say this... But from the sounds of it, and going by my contact, not all of MGT are bad...

But I catch ya, and yes any post that is liked by those users can now be considered a "push" and therefore not worth one's time. I do feel for the MGT members that are legit.

 

Insane, thanks for standing up and calling this out. I also kinda dig the like/trophy system, and would hate to lose it, but something should be done.

Behavior such as this is kinda why i have avoided guilds in the past tbh

 

Meh... it's trivial.

P.S. Like me please.

 

Shukran cs my friend.

 

If the enjoyment of some on the board hinges on showing off virtual popularity and spending time inflating it, then so be it, but it seems a tad sad.

I don't think the features need to be removed because of it though.

 

By this logic forum posts should also be removed as they can also be easily advertised, gamed and spammed.

This is why it is not good logic.

A "like" is simply shorthand for a "Me too!" "I agree!" style post. It is not a mechanism for voting (the ability to post polls exists were some actual voting desired) and the point/title system for forum avatars is simply a bit of fun fluff, not something that should actually be taken seriously.

 

I enjoy the feedback, all of my likes are genuine (I think). So I know if something I'm saying is off base or something the community agrees with.

We know which people are getting fake likes, if that makes them feel better about their posts good for them I guess.

I think up until last night it was working pretty well as a guide, posts:like ratios kind of showed if your line of thinking for the game was well received by the community or not.. at this point its pretty meaningless.. but I guess likes in general are meaningless. each post can be weighed on it's own merit.

Also, I noticed on my own just a little bit ago what was going on when I saw a member who had about 60 likes go up to over 300 overnight.

 

Are you implying that internet reputation based solely on a numeric scale that requires minimal time and effort to increment shouldn't be taken seriously??? *grabs pitchfork*

As an aside, the likes should probably stop giving trophy points beyond 100 likes, as it is obviously a mechanic that can be gamed comparatively very easily, where as the efforts that really benefit and should be recognised and encouraged within the forum community aren't rewarded as much as they could be.

As an example, I could go make an off topic post about Kittens, begin posting copious amounts of Kittens and no doubt receive quite a few seemingly legitimate likes. Whereas I have to keep reminding myself sometimes to go back to the Developer Depot to like the contributions being posted.

So as a tl;dr, less Trophy points for Likes, more Trophy points for participation and contributions - hopefully by way of putting Trophy points into the hands of our reputable mod team, so that they can ensure our most virtuous actions are encouraged.

... Kittens.

 

Thank you for caring so much about how MGT affects SotA as a whole. If you would like to make some suggestions, could you please send me or any member of MGT a message relaying your thoughts or opinions? That would be amazing and would also help guild operations run much more smoothly and without fail.

In regards to likes,

There are ample opportunities for everyone to support a fellow citizens posts and those that are left out of the loop are the first ones to raise a flag. Be that as it may, I happen to like the "like" system as it is. Although, I do see and understand your points, however I do not see any harm in supporting a person's perspective. Doesn't the average person read a post and then like it? I plan on reading every post I possibly can on here. If I see one that is good, i'll like it. It's not about who has the most likes, it's about finding what you agree with and supporting it. At least, that's my perspective.

 

depends on your definition of trivial. For me, I look at the trophy system as a sort of mini-game, a welcome distraction from work. It also encourages me to think about what im posting before i post it. For the most part.

And when I'm playing a game, few things are more annoying than exploiters

 

OP:

I'd rather 'likes' were abused than see bots or item duplication. I really think you should let it roll like water off a duck's back.

On a technical point about your blog: you should note that your quote of myself concludes wrongly. Emailing devs was not to get personal information about people but to check if they were B+ or not. A simple binary question which is entirely consensual (opt-in, not opt-out). Add to that I haven't actually emailed the devs yet, and add to that Portalarium are entirely aware of data protection so jump down from your high horse.

Also, "armor" is the American spelling of "armour".

I recognise that you are actually a bright guy despite your troll-like posts, but your sentiment is way off base with the rest of the forum members (imo). Your personal rants on your blog I think are of highly questionable taste. I'm not pro-censorship, and admit that you are entitled to keep posting on your blog but I wouldn't be surprised if it leads to a ban.

 

hehe yeah I read through his blog too. I enjoy Insane Membrane's posts, they make me smirk and occasionally chuckle. I did notice that he uses non-US spelling/expressions.. I hope he doesn't call me out on spelling color wrong too

 

Well I'm from the UK so I default to British spellings but I thought this was an obvious American spelling. Hard to tell from the context if it was sarcastic. *shrug*

 

I don't really understand the connection between these two things. Why should we have to choose between people exploiting the forums or people exploiting the game?


I, for one, don't find his comments troll-like (or way off-base). Whistle-blowing should be encouraged, in an effort to keep everything about SotA fair for everyone... even the forums.